Rebel Yell

The Rebel Yell was the war cry of the Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War. Union troops, even when greatly outnumbering their attackers, described it as being extremely unsettling. The Rebel Yell, along with the mystique of the invincible rebel soldier, aided the Confederate armies greatly. This was especially true early in the war when the rebels were only greatly outnumbered, as opposed to later in the war when they were ridiculously outnumbered.

Supposedly, though, no one today knows exactly what the rebel yell sounded like. It definitely was not "Yee-Haw!" "Yee-haw" conveys a message of, "Oh boy! We's gonna' have some fun now!" The Rebel Yell conveys more of a "Oh boy! We's gonna' do some killin' now!" message. It's more like "Yee Yee Yee Yee!", which sounds silly in print. Union soldiers described it as a sort of swirling discordant scream that grew louder and more horrible as the attackers approached. The desired effect requires an entire horde of southerners with an extreme case of battle lust.

The first roller coaster opened at Paramount's Kings Dominion, the Rebel Yell is a single out and back wooden twin-style coaster. Designed by John Allen and built by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, both tracks of Rebel Yell have been operating since the park opened on May 3, 1975. The red side (which is red in name only, as the entire coaster is actually painted white) runs trains forward through 3,369 feet of track; the blue side makes a nearly identical trip backward. Riders must decide early on whether they want to see the fifty-degree drop at the end of the 85-foot lift hill - there are two entirely separate lines for each track, and the line for the red side is typically shorter. The two tracks are sometimes coordinated to race trains, but to maintain the capacity of 1200 riders per hour, one train may leave the station before the other is finished loading. The entire trip takes two minutes and fifteen seconds, and the trains reach a respectable speed of 56 miles per hour. There are four trains total - two per track - and each can handle thirty riders at a time with five cars per train. Riders, who must be at least 44" tall, are arranged two across in three rows.